bietostolen relay

how could norway lose?

they are absolute stacked with great skiers and get 3rd?

wow.

germany does have 4 great ones there, that is true.


Anyone see this one Eurosport?
How was it?

JK

Can't take early-season results too seriously. I think last year
Germany won the first relay in a similiar fashion.The first seven teams
looked to be clustered pretty closely. Norway 1 didn't even have Estil
or Hjelmeset- it almost looks like they picked their first two teams
from a hat. And Aukland isn't there either. My bet is the Olympic
relay comes down to Norway and Italy again, but Hofstad can't rely on
a sprint like Alsgaard did, so it should be interesting. The Pregaloto
course is much more difficult than Beitostolen, so I wouldn't expect a
large cluster of teams at the front on the last leg.

cpella wrote:

Can't take early-season results too seriously. I think last year
Germany won the first relay in a similiar fashion.

The Germans were on a roll right from the beginning last year, but
that's all I can remember.


The first seven teams looked to be clustered pretty closely.

Actually there no less than ten teams in the train: Sweden, Switzerland
and Finland got dropped a bit before the finish. OTOH five teams (NOR1,
NOR2, GER, CZE and FIN) had pulled a lead of more than 30s before the
last leg and SWE, ITA, FRA, RUS and SWI only caught up with them
because the leaders couldn't seem to agree on the pace...


Norway 1 didn't even have Estil or Hjelmeset- it almost looks like they p=
icked their first
two teams from a hat. And Aukland isn't there either.

NOR1 consisted of the top three Norwegians (1-2-5) from Saturday's
race - plus Hofstad who'd finished about 72th. In conmparison NOR2 had
an array of 7-14-22-36.

Aukland DNSed both races due to a cold.


My bet is the Olympic relay comes down to Norway and Italy again, but Ho=
fstad can't rely on a sprint like Alsgaard did, so it should be interesti=
ng.

I wouldn't dismiss Germany, this victory wasn't a fluke. Norway might,
perhaps a bit surprisingly, be a team without a true killer sprinter,
but they've been so often been able to give their anchor a fairly easy
leg.


The Pragelato course is much more difficult than Beitostolen, so I wouldn=
't expect a
large cluster of teams at the front on the last leg.

Due to circumstances the relay was raced on an easier than normal 3.3km
course. I'd agree that we'll have a bigger chance of seeing early
breakaway attempts and some unexpected (and final) collapses in Turin.


Other observations: Bj=F8rgen's skating looks even more like "unsuitable
viewing for children" than it did last year, Batory again a big early
season exclamation mark, Finnish men (Jauhoj=E4rvi and Kattilakoski)
again hinting at a promise of delivering some decent results for a
change, Americans again notable by their absence...


Anders

I think the North Americans are rightly staying home and waiting for
Sovereign Lakes/Canmore. There is good snow at at Vernon (check the
webcam at http://www.skisilverstar.com/), so racing in Europe this
early would be a waste of scarce resources. Two weeks to go and I'm
there...


Anders wrote:
cpella wrote:

Can't take early-season results too seriously. I think last year
Germany won the first relay in a similiar fashion.

The Germans were on a roll right from the beginning last year, but
that's all I can remember.


The first seven teams looked to be clustered pretty closely.

Actually there no less than ten teams in the train: Sweden, Switzerland
and Finland got dropped a bit before the finish. OTOH five teams (NOR1,
NOR2, GER, CZE and FIN) had pulled a lead of more than 30s before the
last leg and SWE, ITA, FRA, RUS and SWI only caught up with them
because the leaders couldn't seem to agree on the pace...


Norway 1 didn't even have Estil or Hjelmeset- it almost looks like they=
picked their first
two teams from a hat. And Aukland isn't there either.

NOR1 consisted of the top three Norwegians (1-2-5) from Saturday's
race - plus Hofstad who'd finished about 72th. In conmparison NOR2 had
an array of 7-14-22-36.

Aukland DNSed both races due to a cold.


My bet is the Olympic relay comes down to Norway and Italy again, but =
Hofstad can't rely on a sprint like Alsgaard did, so it should be interes=
ting.

I wouldn't dismiss Germany, this victory wasn't a fluke. Norway might,
perhaps a bit surprisingly, be a team without a true killer sprinter,
but they've been so often been able to give their anchor a fairly easy
leg.


The Pragelato course is much more difficult than Beitostolen, so I woul=
dn't expect a
large cluster of teams at the front on the last leg.

Due to circumstances the relay was raced on an easier than normal 3.3km
course. I'd agree that we'll have a bigger chance of seeing early
breakaway attempts and some unexpected (and final) collapses in Turin.


Other observations: Bj=F8rgen's skating looks even more like "unsuitable
viewing for children" than it did last year, Batory again a big early
season exclamation mark, Finnish men (Jauhoj=E4rvi and Kattilakoski)
again hinting at a promise of delivering some decent results for a
change, Americans again notable by their absence...
=20
=20
Anders

The course at Beitostolen looked easy, I guess cos of the snow
problems, etc, so I dont
think this relay is the best indication.

Norway will win in the Olympics, they can crush in the classic legs,
and i dont think theyre skating
is limiting them anymore, especially if they can get Berger like they
did in the World Champs.

Not sure about Italy this time. Zorzi has been worthless for awhile
now. Perhaps if they
keep the lineup they used in Falun last season, they'll have better
luck.They seem to
be a classic skier short though, and Piller Cottrer can only do so
much. They have to
get rid of Zorzi for sure




My bet is the Olympic relay comes down to Norway and Italy again, but Hofstad can't rely on a sprint like Alsgaard did, so it should be interesting.

Are we assuming Norway won't use sprint genius Tor Arne Hetland in the
final skating leg of the Olympic Relay?

J Tegeder
"Stick around this sport long enough and you'll beat everyone at least
once!" JT

wrote:

Are we assuming Norway won't use sprint genius Tor Arne Hetland in the
final skating leg of the Olympic Relay?

Obviously, some are.

Hofstad was most probably sick at Beitostølen, he did come in as #72
(!!!) on the classic race the day before, so simply keeping up with the
frontrunners on the last leg was a big improvement.

OTOH, with Hetland in shape to keep it up for ~ 10 K, there's nobody I'd
rather have on the last leg. :-)

Terje

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